Hiding the truth
by CelestialAuthor
Summary: Ash and Clemont have managed to keep their relationship hidden from Bonnie and Serena but what will happen when they finally decide to come clean? How will the girls react?


Hiding the truth

Ash and Clemont strolled through the moonlit streets of Lumiose City hand in hand. Ooccassionally, one gave the other's hand a gentle squeeze, illicting a smile from the pair of them. They found a quiet spot in a park Clemont knew from his childhood. The pair sat down and laid back to look up at the stars, Clemont's eyes lighting up as he pointed out all the different constellations to Ash, giving him a detailed history and astrology lesson. Ash looked over to the smiling blonde as he continued to talk about the stars twinkling over head, finding himself smiling as he allowed Clemont to teach him about how stars are born and how they die. Most people would get quickly bored of Clemont's lessons, especially his little sister Bonnie, who was never shy about telling him how bored she was, but never Ash. To Ash, Clemont never looked more beautiful than when he was talking about something he enjoyed.

"Umm, Ash, are you okay?" Clemont asked, changing the subject after noticing that Ash was spaced out and just staring at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just enjoying the night," Ash smiled, Clemont scooted closer to him and rested his head on Ash's chest while laying his arm across Ash's stomach.

"Me too," Clemont agreed. Ash closed his eyes and sighed happily, thinking back to the day he had now pinpointed as the day his feelings about Clemont had changed.

Two years ago

Ash sat down in the Pokemon Centre and picked up the phone, dialling the number quickly and shifting in his seat to get comfortable as his mother answered.

"Hi, mom," Ash greeted as his mother's face popped up and she wiped her eyes quickly.

"Hiya, honey."

"Mom, what's up?"

"Professor Oak...he died last night." The colour drained from Ash's face as he felt his heart drop.

"But...I only spoke to him last week...What happened?"

"Heart attack, he went in his sleep. It sounded as peaceful as it could be," Delia answered. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I know how much he meant to you." Ash couldn't take it any more and broke down in tears, totally ignoring the fact that his mother had hung up on him. He placed the phone back on its hook, got up, turned around and ran out of the Pokemon Centre as fast as he could. Pikachu broke away from the group and followed Ash and before Serena or Bonnie

could ask what was going on Clemont had gone after Ash and Pikachu.

"Ash? What's wrong?" Clemont sat down next to Ash on the bench he found him sititng on, Pikachu on his shoulder, gently rubbing his trainer's back in comfort. Clemont carefully placed an arm around Ash's shoulder.

"My mom just told me Professor Oak died last night."

Clemont used his free arm to pull Ash closer to him, and run his hands through his dark hair. Ash broke down again and clung on to the blonde haired boy

"I'm sorry. I know from the way you spoke about him he meant a lot to you," Clemont apologised. Not knowing what else to do, he just allowed Ash to cling on to him and sob into his shirt.

Ash awoke the next morning, tucked up in bed with Pikachu sleeping by his ear. He sat up and noticed Clemont slumped in the chair next to his bed, fast asleep. He couldn't remember how he'd got back to the Pokemon Centre, let alone tucked into bed. He glanced over at the table on the other side of the room and saw his clothes neatly folded next to his bag and Pokeballs.

"Morning, Ash, how you doing this morning?" Clemont yawned as he awoke.

"Umm...I dunno. How did I get here?" Ash asked, gesturing to the bed –the last thing he remembered was crying to Clemont as he had his arms around him.

"I led you back here after you had cried yourself out. You did seem like you were in a daze, which is understandable."

"Thank you and sorry." Ash went slightly red remembering that he'd shown such a vunerable side of himself to Clemont.

"It's okay, if you need to talk or anything else. I'm gonna be here for you," he reassured Ash.

"Should we head back?" Ash asked, noticing it was getting late.

"I think so, Bonnie and Serena should be asleep by now," Clemont agreed. The pair got to their feet and taking each other's hands began to walk back to Clemont's dad's house, where the four of them were staying while back in Lumiose City.

Clemont opened the front door and was about to creep quietly back in when he was stopped by Ash, who grabbed his arm and turned him so they were looking eye to eye. Ash swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.

"I love you," Ash whispered, resting his head on Clemont's shoulder. Clemont lifted his head and planted a gentle kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

"I love you too," came his simple reply. Unbeknown to them, in the living room, Serena turned to Bonnie and smiled widely with the younger girl surpressing a giggle. They both closed their eyes and pretended to be asleep as the two boys stepped into the room and began to undress ready for bed.

One Year ago

Ash was laying down in his tent, unable to sleep as the events of earlier in the day danced around his head, tormenting him. He was on the phone to his mother, mainly catching up and partly to ask for his mother's advice.

"...I dunno, I mean we walk around with Bonnie and Serena as normal but when we're alone and they've gone to bed or whatever, then we just end up...No, nothing like that!" Ash had seen the horrified look in his mother's eyes. "We just sit and hold hands or cuddle, not saying anything, not kissing...nothing...I just wanna know if he wants more like I do or if we're just overly affectionate friends," Ash explained.

"Well, going on what you've told me about him and about the situation, it does sound like he wants the same as you – like you said, he doesn't act like this around anyone else. I think you just need to take the plunge and talk to him. Let me know how it goes and I'll talk to you soon. Love you, honey."

"Love you too, mom." Ash smiled as he hung up, stood up and turned around to walk away, but as he turned the corner he ran head first into Clemont. Fearing he'd heard what he and his mom had been discussing, Ash ran away in the opposite direction, actively avoiding Clemont for the rest of the day - until now. Clemont lay just a few feet away in his own tent. Ash sighed, promising himself he'd talk to Clemont tomorrow.

"Ash? You still awake?" Clemont's voice came from outside of his tent, followed by the unzipping of the front. Ash sat bolt upright as Clemont bent down and crawled in next to Ash, taking his hand in his own as he always did when they were alone. This time was different, though. Clemont wouldn't take his eyes off of Ash's face, darting his eyes between Ash's eyes and lips.

"Unless I' haven't made it clear before now..." Clemont began, closing the space between he and Ash to just an inch. Ash gulped hard at having Clemont so close to him. Clemont closed the rest of the inch and pressed his lips gently against Ash's.

"I want more," he whispered, breaking the kiss.

Ash lay down in his sleeping bag, a few feet from where Clemont was already sleeping soundly, wishing more than anything that he could just close the gap between them and wrap his arms around his lover while they slept, but they'd agreed it for the best to keep it between them, at least for a while. Ash hoped that would have changed the first time they

uttered the words "I love you" to each other.

Six months ago

Ash and Clemont dropped their spoons into their bowls as they finished their desserts. They'd managed to convince Bonnie and Serena to all split up so they could all go shopping, so Ash and Clemont quickly ran around and picked up all of the supplies they'd need for the journey into the next town before sneaking off to a notoriously romantic restaurant for a date. Ash drew the attention of the closest waiter and settled the bill, despite Clemont's arguments.

Ash and Clemont walked away hand in hand to where they said they'd be meeting up with the others. Ash glanced over to Clemont, the bright afternoon sunshine bouncing off of his glasses and lighting up his face in a way Ash had never seen before. He stopped dead in his tracks, and pulled Clemont into a hug and whispered in his ear.

"I...love you Clemont. I've never felt like this about anybody else. You were the first friend I made when I came to the Kalos region and ever since we met, you've been so different to everyone I've ever known before. You're kind, caring, loyal and honest. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met and I know I'll never find anyone like you again and I don't know why it's taken me so long to tell you this, but I love you."

Ash quickly let go of him and stared down at the ground, half dreading what Clemont's response was going to be. He didn't have to wait long as Clemont lifted his chin up and gently planted a tender kiss on Ash's lips.

"I love you too," Clemont confessed, blushing slightly as he pecked Ash's lips once again.

One week later

Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie were sat around waiting for their lunch to finish cooking. Serena was handing out Pokepuffs to their Pokemon, Bonnie was busy grooming Dedenne while humming quietly to herself and Ash and Clemont were working up the courage to finally reveal to their companions that they were a couple.

"You ready?" Ash whispered.

"As I'll ever be," Clemont replied, squeezing Ash's hand under the table. Ash nodded as he and Clemont rose to their feet.

"Bonnie, Serena...We've got something we need to tell you," Ash announced.

"Ash and I...well, we've been...We've been dating for the past year," Clemont confessed, taking hold of Ash's hand and gripping it tightly, unsure of how his friend and sister were going to react to this news.

"We already knew that," Serena shrugged nonchalantly, continuing to feed her Pokepuffs to

the hungry group of Pokemon by her feet while Bonnie just turned away from the couple.

"How did you know?" Ash asked.

"Well, while you were trying to be all sneaky and secretive you actually made it pretty obvious. The trips out when you thought we'd gone to sleep, all those days where we split up to go shopping...We caught on months ago and were just waiting for you two to man up and spit it out," Serena informed them, causing the pair of them to go red with embarrassment. Clemont turned to address his little sister.

"Bonnie?"

"WHY DID YOU KEEP THIS FROM ME FOR SO LONG?" Bonnie shouted at him, turning around and storming over to him.

"I'm your sister! I'm always gonna love you no matter what happens, no matter who you love. I just want you to be happy! I'm just hurt you felt like you needed to keep this from me. I'm not mom or dad...Clemont, you're my big brother and I love you...No matter what!"

"Bonnie...I...I'm sorry." Clemont let go of Ash's hand and threw his arms around his sister. Bonnie returned her brother's hug briefly before letting go and turning to face Ash.

"And as for you... You'd better make sure you make my brother happy," she told him, trying to be the protective sibling despite the fact that she stood a foot shorter than both boys.

"I'll do my best," Ash promised, placing a hand on Clemont's shoulder as he stood back up.

Later that night, Clemont climbed into his sleeping bag, laid down next to Ash and wrapped his arms around the dark haired boy's waist and kissed the back of his neck. Ash turned around to face Clemont, sliding one hand into the boy's pyjama shorts and using the other to pull his face closer to him, kissing him deeply.

"I love you," Ash whispered, biting gently on the blond's bottom lip

"I love you too." Clemont moaned as Ash continued to run his hands around his inner thighs and groin


End file.
